The former AIG CEO’s trial gets under way 11 years after Eliot Spitzer, New York Attorney General at the time, filed suit

Maurice R. “Hank” Greenberg, the prominent insurance executive who transformed American International Group Inc. into a global powerhouse, is finally on trial.

Eleven years ago, Eliot Spitzer, New York Attorney General at the time, filed a financial-fraud civil-court lawsuit against Mr. Greenberg. What followed was a decade of delays, new attorneys general and a narrowing of the accusations. Starting Tuesday, the government began trying to prove Mr. Greenberg approved two financial maneuvers between 2000 and 2003 aimed at...